Tuesday, April 14, 2009

VOX GRAVITAS - Harry Kalas

My roots are in broadcasting, and that compels me to post on the death of Phillies announcer Harry Kalas. What a set of pipes! …a most distinctive delivery.

He died in DC on Monday in the broadcast booth preparing for a Phillies/Nationals game. He was 73.

You may not recognize his name, but you are undoubtedly familiar with his work. Mr. Kalas was also the voice of NFL films. If you watch NFL slow-mo highlights - with the audio turned off - you will still hear his voice in your head! He was the soundtrack of the NFL.

Harry was so good that if you wanted him to announce your reception entrance at your wedding, he would do it. All you had to do was call him and ask. Of course, he would send a recording, but it was like having him there. And he would do it gratis. That's how good he was and one reason he was so loved by the Phillie fans.

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I'm VP of the Sports Group at Capitol Broadcasting Co. My office is in the Durham Bulls Athletic Park - a great place to work. (And wonderfully distracting!)

CBC owns the Bulls, operates four sports-talk radio stations in Raleigh and wralSPORTSfan.com. Our radio brands are The Fan, Buzz Sports Radio, The Ticket and ESPN Deportes. We are a partner with Learfield Sports at Wolfpack Sports Properties, and our TV stations connect viewers with NBC, Fox and ACC sports. Our radio stations are the RDU flagships for NC State, Duke Univ, the NHL Carolina Hurricanes and the Bulls.

We even built a basketball court at our American Tobacco complex in Durham and a play area for grown-ups! There's a brewery in the ballpark, too. It's work. It's play. I can't always tell the difference!?!